No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

NetWitness Platform vs Sentinel comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

NetWitness Platform
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
33rd
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (34th)
Sentinel
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
17th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of NetWitness Platform is 0.9%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sentinel is 3.1%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Sentinel3.1%
NetWitness Platform0.9%
Other96.0%
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

MOTASHIM Al Razi - PeerSpot reviewer
CISO at One Bank Limited
It is a stable solution, but they should make the user interface easier to understand
The solution's initial setup takes work. We have to organize multiple paths and many features. The deployment process takes less than a week. But it takes a month to complete if we want to make the solution smarter by integrating it with various devices. I rate the process as a six out of ten.
Simon Johnston - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, Customer Success at Coltek Business Soltuions
Simple antivirus solution integrates well but could improve pricing and currency options
I don't really have experience working with these solutions. I promote them for our clients, but I don't work with them. I can't share my experience with these tools as I make assumptions about that. For both Adlumin and CrowdStrike, both confirm that they're scalable and enterprise-ready and all those kinds of things. We haven't had any specific problem with either of those. We just have a preference for which one we would prefer. If somebody says they want to use a different one from the one that we prefer, then we have to find reasons why they aren't. But scalability is not one of the reasons that one is better over the other. I don't really have advice for people that are looking into using Sentinel; just do your research across what is available. On a scale of one to ten, I rate Sentinel a seven.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It's fully scalable. There is no limit. Of course, the license limits per day the number of terabytes. In my opinion, it's very flexible."
"Offers a good wireless feature."
"Technical support is very good; they try to resolve issues with the proper SLAs which are defined by them and they understand the client's requirements as well as the client's infrastructure in a better manner."
"Overall, it is easy to implement."
"It's quite economical compared to other solutions in the market."
"Since the solution has been under way we have seen a large decrease of threats and proactive reactions to incidents."
"The most valuable features are the packet inspection and the automated incident response."
"The most valuable feature of RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets are the alerts and correlations tools."
"If Sentinel is integrated with Identity Manager and User Application Portal, the solution runs simply perfect!"
"The stability is phenomenal and we never had any issues with downtime or even had to restart."
"The solution lets us get all the logs properly and regularly monitor customer infrastructure."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is that it provides a central locking system for many event sources."
"It provides real time security event analytics."
"Sentinel gave us logs to tell us what's going right and wrong in your environment so we could secure the network."
"The correlation engine allows our clients to generate rules more efficiently."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is that it provides a central locking system for many event sources."
 

Cons

"RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets can improve the threat level aspect, it is lacking compared to other solutions. Whenever any hacking activity or any other threat factor occurred they used to provide the coverages very fast when comparing RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets. I heard the other three solutions, from a discussion with my team members who had experience in other solutions, they used to say that. Whenever any issues happened across the globe RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets are a little bit slow improving those detection mechanisms."
"Log aggregation is an issue with this solution because there are a huge number of alerts in a single instance."
"The initial setup is very complex and should be simplified."
"Its technical support could be better."
"The initial setup was complex because it takes a lot of time to complete the implementation."
"Nowadays, their support is a little subpar compared to other solutions. I rate RSA support six out of 10."
"The implementation needs assistance."
"One thing to be improved in NetWitness is the capability to correlate event logs in a general sense."
"Some functions look great but, in practice, some key limitations turn the process into something opaque."
"I would prefer to extend dashboards part and their functions in Web GUI version, so the charts could be for configurable."
"On version 5, builder was somewhat unstable during deployment -> workaround strong procedure with too many middle steps of saves."
"Frankly speaking, we did not find this product to be valuable, at all."
"I would like to see a better reporting work structure on the dashboard."
"The solution does not allow outsourced authorizations."
"It's probably not a product that I would recommend to anyone."
"The dashboard and customer view should be improved"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The new pricing and licensing mechanisms are fair. I would advise always to get the full solution (i.e., not only Logs)."
"We have yearly licensing costs. The license fee can be based on the volume of EPS. Some organizations may have, as a gentlemanly gesture, 10,000 EPS and get a 3,000 EPS license but actually use 5,000 EPS."
"In comparison to other SIEM solutions such as Splunk, NetWitness is less costly."
"We are on an annual license for the use of the solution."
"RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets do not have a subscription model, it's a one-time purchase. There is only a perpetual license."
"The product is expensive."
"We have a perpetual license, so the total cost of ownership is not very expensive. It's a good investment."
"It is cheap."
"We inquired about getting support from the vendor, Micro Focus, but the cost was very high."
"Sentinel is a subscription-based solution."
"Sentinel is moderately priced."
"Sentinel's slightly on the expensive side."
"The solution’s pricing is aligned with its competitors."
"We receive a pricing discount because of our ongoing partnership with Micro Focus."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions are best for your needs.
885,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

VS
Manager, Enterprise Risk Consulting at a tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Feb 26, 2015
HP ArcSight vs. IBM QRadar vs. ​McAfee Nitro vs. Splunk vs. RSA Security vs. LogRhythm
We at Infosecnirvana.com have done several posts on SIEM. After the Dummies Guide on SIEM, we are following it up with a SIEM Product Comparison – 101 deck. So, here it is for your viewing pleasure. Let me know what you think by posting your comments below. The key products compared here are…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Performing Arts
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise20
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about NetWitness Platform?
The product's initial setup phase was not at all difficult.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetWitness Platform?
The pricing is comparable to others, and I consider the cost to be intermediate. Specific cost details are unknown to me.
What needs improvement with NetWitness Platform?
There is currently no need for improvement in the SIEM ( /categories/security-information-and-event-management-siem ), though there could be potential enhancements by integrating with AI.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetIQ Sentinel?
I don't have too many comments overall about pricing as we're in South Africa, so it makes more sense if it's billed in rand. They nearly always bill it in dollars, so if it can be billed in our cu...
What needs improvement with NetIQ Sentinel?
I'm not sure what the room for improvement is for Sentinel. It needs to stay current, and it does, so I suppose that's fine. I don't have a high demand for what it should do. Price is always a cons...
What is your primary use case for NetIQ Sentinel?
It's our go-to choice for antivirus. I use Sentinel a lot.
 

Also Known As

RSA Security Analytics
NetIQ Sentinel, Novell SIEM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Los Angeles World Airports, Reply
Faysal Bank, GaVI, Handelsbanken, ISC Mªnster, Lambeth Council, Swisscard, The Municipality of Siena, Tukes, University of Dayton, University of the Sunshine Coast
Find out what your peers are saying about NetWitness Platform vs. Sentinel and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.